There is a growing demand for alternative forms of energy production which utilize renewable sources of energy to produce useable electrical or other energy. Solar panels and wind turbines are in growing demand, but do not provide base power because the energy supply (sun or wind) is not constantly available. Therefore, in order to utilize energy produced from solar panels or wind turbines, the energy must be stored in some form of battery.
One form of energy which is renewable and in constant supply is energy from flowing water. Flowing water provides a constant energy source with high torque and generally low speed. There have been other attempts to produce energy from this source, such as my previous U.S. Pat. No. 3,887,817. As systems such as the one described in my '817 patent are scaled for greater production, however, previously unforeseen issues arise.
One such issue is the high stress placed on the rope or chain. In a single rotor system, such as described in my '817 patent, the rope experiences a high tension differential between entering and leaving the rotor. This results in premature wear of the rope, leading to system failure and down time.
Therefore, it is a primary purpose of this invention to provide an apparatus which is able to extract useable amounts of energy from a flowing stream of water and convert it into useable energy, such as electricity.
It is a further purpose of this invention to provide an apparatus which is able to scale from experimental to useful scales without significant modification.
It is a still further purpose of this invention to provide an apparatus designed to gradually reduce the tension in the rope so as to eliminate premature wear.